


The Day Souji Seta Had To Shave All His Hair Off

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Accidents, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-18
Updated: 2011-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-27 11:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/295596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or rather why had to in the first place, and how Nanako reacted to it when he didn't notice at first. How Adachi thought it was really strange to see Souji without his magnificent hair and how Yosuke found out that Souji was a closet narcissist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Day Souji Seta Had To Shave All His Hair Off

It had been an accident at the time, Souji could hardly remember it but even he would have gone as far to call it a tragedy. It wasn’t _that_ tragic, no one had died and he didn’t either but still, the whole situation was rather tragic. It was half an hour after Yosuke’s dad told him, yelled at him more like, to go home, leaving his ‘partner’ behind to stack the bananas in the supermarket. The look on both his and Yosuke’s faces said that they were not the least bit pleased but he did as he was told anyway.

As he left the safe, comfortable heating of Junes, the numbing cold of wintertime at Inaba greeted him and bit at his bare skin. It didn’t snow at Inaba, and Souji was glad for that because he didn’t really have any good experiences with the weather and the sniffles that came with it; if he did, it had mostly involved him watching the silence of snowed in buildings and cars within the safety of his bedroom at night, watching the snow pile up on the cars and houses during the wee hours of the morning.

But the cold didn’t stop the roads and sidewalks from freezing into black ice. Souji’s face was completely numb at this point. He bit back a groan as he treaded the frozen pavement carefully, hoping to get back to the Dojima residence as quickly as possible without his limbs freezing off or slipping on the ground.

Unfortunately, those two tasks proved quite difficult. He jumped when a blast of cold wind buffeted him from behind and resulted in him losing his unstable footing. A yelp came out of his mouth as he slammed against a nearby dumpster. Stars flooded his vision as he leaned against the wall next to the dumpster.

“Shit,” he groaned as he pressed all his weight against the wall. Today clearly wasn’t his day, he thought. He stood up and shook his head vigorously as soon as the dancing stars disappeared from his eyes. Ignoring the slippery sidewalk, he jogged quickly, wanting to get to the safety and warmth of his home. He fiddled with the doorknob and sighed in relief once he was out of the icy weather.

“I’m home,” he called out as he took off his sneakers. Soft thumps came from the living room as Nanako’s head popped into view. He smiled as she rushed to him and hugged him eagerly; he patted her head affectionately as she did.

“Hey, Big Bro,” she said as she took his hand and lead them to the living room where a rerun Doraemon was playing on the television. Souji smiled. At least, in here he’s warm, and he can cook things when they needed food. Nanako leaned against him on the sofa as they watched the cartoon.

All was quiet in comfortable silence until Nanako’s stomach rumbled.

“Haven’t you eaten dinner yet?” Souji asked as Nanako’s face reddened subtly. Nanako looked up at him and her face changed from innocent light heartedness, to shock, worry, to fear until her hands started to shake.

“Nanako, what’s wrong?” Souji asked in worry. The girl in his lap moved away from him, huddled and attempted to burrow herself in the other end of the sofa.

“Blood,” she whimpered. “You’ve got blood in your hair, Big Bro.”

“Blood-“ He touched his hair and there was indeed a thick, warm liquid that coated his fingers as he ran a hand through his normally soft hair. He got up from the sofa stiffly and rushed to the bathroom, flicking the light switch. His pale face was stark compared to the blood that was now matting his hair into clumps. A drop of it was sliding down the side of his face. Behind him, Nanako’s head had appeared and a look of worry evident in the crease of her brow. Souji groaned and washed the blood from his hands immediately, scrubbing them harshly before opening the drawers under the sink and looking inside for anything that might dress the wound.

“What happened?” Nanako asked feebly as he watched him press on the wound with a patch of gauze. His grey eyes looked at her from the mirror, even know, he was still unreadable; there was no pain, or surprise. That part of him scared her, to be honest. Sometimes she’d dream of him being a robot, like the scary one from that movie Americans watched.

“I think this was from when I hit my head against a dumpster,” he replied exasperatedly. She continued to watch him; his quiet cussing at the when it wound wouldn’t stop bleeding; him shakily grabbing the phone from his pocket and dialling a number; him putting the device to his ear. He didn’t look like he was in pain, and Nanako thought that was odd, why wasn’t he in pain? That further reinforced her theory that he was a robot.

“Ah, Dojima-san. I’m sorry for bothering you-” Nanako jumped at the sound of her dad’s name; she shouldn’t be surprised. Of course, he’d call dad, this was an emergency, wasn’t it?

“I need to go to the hospital, I’ve got a wound and it won’t stop-” A sigh passed from Souji’s lips and he pressed the gauze a bit harder against his head. His uncle’s tone of urgency wasn’t helping to his increasing headache. “I’ll explain later. I’m putting pressure on it, yeah-

“Adachi-san? Alright, I’ll see you later then.” He gave out another sigh before putting his phone back into his pocket. He looked at Nanako and gave a hopeful smile, she can’t help but smile back, even when it was a sad smile.

“Are you alright to go to bed, Nanako?” he asked as he turned around to face her, his hand still on the gauze on the side of his head. She looked at him with worry, how was she going to sleep when her possible-robot older brother might die? She decided that that was a stupid question and pouted at him instead.

“I’ll be fine I promise. It’s just a flesh wound,” he reassured her. She refused to move from her spot, her eyes travelling to the gauze on the side his head. “I’ll tuck you into bed. Dojima-san won’t be happy when he finds you tired and restless when he gets home.”

“Okay,” she replied reluctantly. Her pout remained even as she headed to her room to get changed into her pajamas. As she jumped into bed, Souji appeared and Nanako tried not to laugh. His head was haphazardly wrapped with a bandage that made him look like a very tired mummy. Souji could even say that he was indeed a very tired mummy. He sat at the foot of her bed and brought the blanket up to her chin.

“Come back tomorrow, please?” she murmured as he placed her stuffed bear next to her. He nodded quietly and turned the lights off as he left the room, leaving Nanako to toss and turn in her bed, clutching the teddy bear as if it were her big brother, as if it were about to disappear.

 *****

Adachi scratched his head as he drove to the Dojima residence. What did poor Suji do to himself this time? He could still hear Dojima’s exasperated voice talking to the telephone that had happened a few minutes ago.

“Souji, what is it- What do you mean you need to go to a hospital?”

Dojima held his face in his hands, it was full of lines, not from age, but from stress and Adachi couldn’t help but notice this; each day it seemed that there more than there was in the days previous. Adachi remained quiet as he listened to his partner’s phone call from the other booth.

“Well, put some pressure on it. It’ll keep it from bleeding too much, and I don’t want you to bleed on the carpet.” It was a feeble attempt at humour, then a pause. “But I’m sorry. I can’t really get off so Adachi’ll have to drive you there. I’ll see you when I get some time off later in a few hours.”

Dojima flipped the mobile phone closed and turned to Adachi tiredly. He seemed too tired to speak so his eyes spoke to Adachi instead.

“You know what to do.”

Adachi bit his lip as he pulled over in front of the house, wrapping his faded scarf around his neck to keep any of the cold wind from tickling the nape of his neck. He hated the cold, it made every bone and muscle in his body feel as though they were frigid, frozen. He got out of the car and hurriedly went into the house, taking off his shoes as entered the door.

“Souji-kun, you ready to go?” he called out as he headed to the living room. He frowned at the sight of the almost passed out teenager with a badly wrapped bandage around his head; he looked almost as tired as Dojima-san was, Adachi noted. Souji looked at him bleakly.

“Whoa, what happened to you?” Adachi asked as he walked over to the teenager, grabbing him gently by the arm and supporting him as they walked to the front door. Adachi smiled briefly when Souji’s head had lolled into a comfortable place against the detective’s shoulder but he began cussing profusely when the teenager had fallen unconscious on the way to the door.

“S-Souji-kun, wake up! I’ll let you fall asleep when we’re in the car-” He gave Souji’s cheek a light slap and was responded with a tired grey eye peeking from the mess of hair and bandages. The load against Adachi was lessened and both of them manage to get into the car in one piece, although as soon as Souji landed in the passenger’s seat, he promptly fell asleep, as Adachi promised him. The detective reached over to fasten the seatbelt for him instead.

He stared at Souji and the close proximity between them made Adachi shiver. Souji looked paler than usual and Adachi was quite afraid that he had already died if not for the subtle rise and fall of his chest. Adachi forced his eyes away from Souji’s face and instead concentrated them at the red stain that was slowly gathering size on the bandage wrapped around Souji’s head.

What exactly happened? Adachi thought as he settled back into his seat and turned on the ignition of the car. He should get this kid to the hospital, quick else it would be the death of Souji in the hands of him and the death of him in the hands of Dojima-san and Souji’s friends. Adachi shook his head and drove off.

 *****

Souji clasped his eyes shut as light streamed in past his eyelids. It was brighter than usual and the bed; it was definitely a bed wasn’t it? It was softer than his futon.  Where was he? He opened his eyes and forced them shut immediately as the light was too bright, it was not sunlight but stark nonetheless.

“Hey, you’re awake,” a tired voice said beside him, a familiar voice. He forced a hand next to his temple and turned to face the source of the voice beside him. It was Yosuke who looked as tired as his voice sounded but otherwise seemed all right. Souji smiled at him.

“Morning, Yosuke,” Souji greeted as he lowered his hand from his face, his eyes had already adjusted. Yosuke laughed.

“Well, at least you seem lively,” he said as he fiddled with a stray clump of his brown hair before stiffly letting his hand back down onto his lap. “How are you feeling? I mean, I tried to get here as soon as I heard the news, and I kinda owe my old man for letting me off.”

“I feel fine,” Souji replied, a bit cross as he wasn’t looking directly at him.. Yosuke flinched and chuckled nervously. “Why are you so nervous? I know you hate hospitals but it’s me that’s in it not you-”

“Uh- How am I going to explain this-” He looked around shakily, and hastily grabbed something from the open bathroom suite. Souji pursed his lips again, how long has he been in this place? Judging by the bed and clothes he’d been given it seems that he’d been here overnight. So much for coming back for Nanako. His thoughts were dispelled from his head when Yosuke held a mirror in front of his face.

“What the fuck,” he cussed when he reached for his hair, or lack thereof. Yosuke flinched at his bluntness. Souji felt his eyes water as he felt his shaved head, Yosuke beside him attempted to lower the mirror but Souji seized it and held it in his own hands. He shouldn’t be worried about this; it was just hair, it all grows back doesn’t it?

But now it was all gone. His ears were cold.

“Did you want me to leave?” Yosuke whispered against his quiet sobs, the other got out the chair but Souji took his wrist. Yosuke wry smile as he watched Souji wipe the tears from his eyes, his brown eyes lingering on the stitched-up scar close to Souji’s temple. He wanted to touch it, to feel the roughness of the thread against Souji’s buzzed hair but instead he sat down and offered his partner a handkerchief.

He realized that that last thought was a bit disturbing and he coughed into his fist while Souji calmed himself down. It was rare to see Souji cry over something, and this might actually be the first time Yosuke’s seen his best friend cry, all because of something petty like his hair, his perfectly coiffed hair, gone. Yosuke laughed forcing Souji to look at him with puffy eyes.

“You’re so much more of a narcissist than you let on, partner,” Yosuke answered as he leaned back into the chair. He jumped when Souji punched him lightly on the arm, a fleeting smile on his face.

“I think you’d take this so much worse than I would, Yosuke,” Souji said as he put the mirror on the bedside table. He was done, his hair was done, it’ll grow back and he had more things to worry about. Like breakfast.

“Yeah, I probably would.”

“Thought so.”

 *****

“You’re the only that’s been to see me, aren’t you?” Souji asked as he put the tray of eaten hospital food next to the mirror. Yosuke munched on his burger as he tried to answer.

“Yeff. Preffy mush-” A grimace then he swallowed. “Dojima-san said that he was still too busy to visit and uh- Nanako’s still asleep.”

“What time is it?” Souji asked. Yosuke grabbed his mobile phone and flipped it open, shoving it in Souji’s face while he took another bite of his burger.

“Ah, 7am.” Silence, calculating silence. “Why are you here so early, Yosuke?”

“Yeah, about that. I was here since last night, actually. I had to beg the nurses to let me stay but it wasn’t good for my dignity though.” Souji forced himself to look away from his reflection in the mirror beyond the open bathroom door and into Yosuke’s tired but amused face.

“Well, I guess you lost something important again,” Souji remarked as he sunk into his pillow, bringing the stiff, hospital blankets around his head to keep his ears warm. Yosuke watched as his friend slowly turned himself into a pig rolled up in a blanket; he was about to make a snarky comment until he heard a knock coming from the door of the room. They both turned to see a very flustered Adachi enter the room hastily.

“Oh, hey Souji-kun, why are you awake so early-” His grey eyes landed on the brown haired teenager sitting next to the bed. Yosuke shifted uneasily as he watched the detective’s gaze travel from him to the blanketed Souji then back to him. “Yosuke-kun, you’re here too! Why are both of you awake?”

For a brief moment when no one wanted to answer, Adachi considered awkwardly leaving the room until Souji sat up, the blanket falling back on his shoulders making Adachi flinch. All his hair was gone, but of course, with accidents that involved head injuries, it was to be expected. Even Adachi knew that. It was simply quite strange seeing Souji without his _perfect_ hair.

“Ahem. Adachi-san, would you kindly stop looking at my head,” Souji said with a frown in his voice. Yosuke’s mouth had also formed into a thin line as he watched the exchange between his best friend and Dojima-san’s co-worker. Souji had taken the crabby, ‘I-just-woke-up’ façade as he looked at Adachi, who was nervously scratching the back of his neck.

“Er, sorry. Souji-kun.” More silence; Adachi gulped and walked to the hospital bed and took out a package wrapped hastily in brown paper and put it at the foot of the bed. Both Souji and Yosuke stared curiously at the package. “I only meant to give this to you, since you kinda looked like you were going to need it when I left you last night.”

“Oh yeah. You took him here last night, didn’t you, Adachi-san?” Yosuke asked as he started eating his cold burger before gagging and getting up to throw it in the bin. Adachi nodded in response as Souji grabbed the package and tore at its surface carefully to open it.

Souji’s façade softened into something akin to sincere gratefulness. It was a grey, knit beanie. “Thanks, Adachi-san. Thanks for the drive last night, too.”

“Well, if I didn’t, Dojima would have my head-” He trailed off as he watched Souji put the beanie on, down to his ears. Yosuke laughed and leaned over to pull the hat low enough to cover Souji’s eyes; they both turned to look at Adachi making the detective finish his sentence.. “But when I found out that the doctors had to shave all of your hair off, and in winter too, I thought you might need something to keep your head warm.

“That’s thoughtful of you, Adachi-san,” Souji said as he patted his ears. “Thank you again.”

“No, no. It’s fine- I mean, I was kind of in a similar incident when I was your age so-”

“Adachi-san, are you trying to say that you were as _clumsy_ as this kook?” Yosuke joked, making Souji punch his arm in retaliation. Adachi chuckled as he watched the two of them fight, as teenagers would. He would say that he kind of missed it, but seeing Souji out of usually cold façade was quite a sight as well.

“Yeah, I guess I was.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I guess this was inspired from when my brother had to shave all his hair off. Not in the same situation though, but he did have the same hair as Souji so I guess it was kind of appropriate.


End file.
